Mom’s The Word: Working together to help others in the community

Wonder Boy is preparing to shave his head to raise money for kids with cancer. By preparing, I mean he’s skipping his monthly trip to the barber until March 19. He is 9, and apart from some growing pains in his knees, episodes of eczema and the seasonal sniffles, he is a healthy boy. And that is exactly why he is a shavee at our local St. Baldrick’s Foundation event at Matt Denny’s in Arcadia.

He will shave his head to honor children like Sandra Martinez of Azusa. Sandra is 16, an honor roll student and cheerleader at Azusa High. In late January, doctors found a tumor in her chest and a biopsy done at City of Hope this month led to complications. Sandra is now at Children’s Hospital in L.A. because of this. She needs donations of blood and platelets, and, as her family says, prayers enough to storm the heavens.

Her Azusa family, and by that I mean the community in that city that mobilizes like no other when someone is in need, have organized several fundraisers to help with medical expenses.

Couwami Asian Fusion Cuisine, at 437 Azusa Ave. in Azusa, donated 20 percent of its receipts on Tuesday to the Martinez family.

A benefit is set from 1 to 5 p.m. March 9, at St. Frances of Rome Parish Hall, 402 N. Dalton Ave., Azusa. Tickets are $10 and include an Italian lunch and one drink. There will be 50/50 drawing, raffle prizes and a bake sale.

Donations of raffle prizes or items that can be used at the benefit, such as plates, utensils, ice and drinks, are also welcome. For more information, call Tony Lopez at 626-513-5967.

For more information, visit www.youcaring.com and search “Sandra Martinez.” You can also search on Facebook, under “Sandra Martinez Benefit and Support Page.”

Three years ago, I spent three days at Huntington Memorial with Cheeky Baby when she swallowed a penny. I remember walking the halls with her in my arms and seeing children in rooms decorated with get well cards and family photos, rooms you know they’ve been in for a long time. It was so detached from the outside world, this reality, and while I admired the battles being fought there, I couldn’t wait to go home.

Wonder Boy and his team from Holy Angels School are on the job to make sure that happens for as many kids as possible.

For more information, check out www.stbaldricks.org and help if you can, especially if you have healthy children in your lives.